Marc Hall's battle to bring his boyfriend to his high school prom made national headlines, and has been turned into a musical.
14 years after it happened, he is visiting schools in Montreal to explain what he went though, and how he's hoping to inspire a new generation to fight for change.
In 2002 Hall was 17 years old, in Oshawa and planning for prom.
"I was thinking oh it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal to bring my boyfriend," said Hall.
He was dead wrong.
His Catholic school refused his request, "because they weren't allowed to condone homosexual behavior at the prom."
As word spread, Hall was flooded with support from parents and human rights groups, but the Catholic school board upheld the school's decision.
"My dad was the one who said, well I guess we're going to have to get a lawyer," said Hall.
It turned into a legal challenge about a person's right to be free of sexual discrimination and the school's right's to its religious beliefs.
Hours before prom, the court ruled in Hall's favour, and he was allowed to bring his date to the dance.
The story resonated with the students at Royal West Academy, all of whom are too young to remember what happened 14 years ago.
"I have to say it caused some controversy at first, people were making jokes, but that's why you have to educate people about it," said Jennifer Lynch.
Attitudes have changed since 2002. Many schools are now creating gender neutral bathrooms to accommodate transgender students.
And students were glad to hear about one former student's success.
"It's really inspirational and I really like how he just stood up for himself," said Rylie White.
Prom Queen, the Musical, is now playing at the Segal Centre.
